


Sempiternity

by KZDipped



Category: Eddsworld - All Media Types
Genre: AUs, Amnesia, Character Death, Future AU, I have been wanting to do something like this for Blue for soooo long, i hope you guys enjoy as much as I am!!, loops, man you guys this is going to be so much fun, meaning of life speculations, memory manipulation, not a huge theme but it’s there
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-10
Updated: 2018-03-10
Packaged: 2019-03-29 09:36:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,761
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13924395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KZDipped/pseuds/KZDipped
Summary: There’s a difference between testing and reaching for a hold on the universe.There’s a difference between a week and infinity.Tom hasn’t made many stupid decisions in his life; he had a good run, a great set of friends, and an amazing rest of his life ahead of him.  But given enough chances, well- anyone could screw that up.  A story of alternate realities.





	Sempiternity

**Author's Note:**

> This is an au that, if you’ve been following my tumblr (kzdipped) you would probably already know about; but the story follows Blue, a canon-divergent Tom who’s- well, I’ll let him tell you.

Getting called into the Red Leader’s office was rarely a good thing. At the moment, Tom was sitting outside the dictator’s office, waiting to be called in. It was almost a comical setup, if there wasn’t such a bad record of those who were called here. Thus far Tom had been called in twice, for unrelated reasons, and survived; he couldn’t help but feel though, that today was different. He was prepared however. He could explain himself, and intrigue Tord into helping him; that was the trick when dealing with him, he’d found.

  
A low buzz ran through this front office, summoning Tom to enter. He stood, running a hand along his uniform before opening the office door gently. He stepped in, careful to keep a strict formal stance until a mutter of, “Sit down,” told him otherwise.

  
There were several lights in the room, all focusing in on the desk, which was itself in an impeccable state. Tom had heard that this Tord was having some difficulty with his eyesight, and although there was no doubt some kind of solution in the works, the bright lights must be some kind of temporary solution. It wouldn’t surprise Tom, if Tord did get some kind of technological enhancement. He already had several, none so drastic as Tom had seen in the past, but more of a mishmash of robotic parts embedded in flesh, mostly beneath his clothes.

  
A curiously unscarred face stared across the desk at Tom, dull eyes taking in his every detail. Tom didn’t flinch, staring right back. “Do you think you know why I called you here?”

  
“I wouldn’t presume, sir.” Best to keep up professional appearances.

  
A silence. “Dewdrops.”

  
“What?” The word slipped out before Tom could help it, and the regret was instant. The gun now pointing at him across the desk was proof of his mistake.

  
“You can’t answer a simple code word, and do not think I haven’t noticed your abnormal behaviour these past weeks. Who are you?” Tord’s face was stony, and quite frankly if Tom had had any reason to be afraid he would have been.

  
But of course, the threat of death didn’t carry much power these days, besides inconvenience. Tom leaned forward slightly, careful not to move too suddenly. “It would be to both our benefits if you are willing to hear me out.

  
“I never said I wouldn’t. I asked who you are.”

  
“Tom.” The leader seemed unimpressed, but Tom continued anyway, “Do you know anything about alternate universe theory?”  
That did seem to grab his attention, although his raised brow seemed skeptical rather than curious. “A basic understanding, yes. You mean to tell me you aren’t from this world?”

  
“Yes, and my coming here was unintentional. If you’re willing to help me go back, I’ll share all the details I still have about the project for your own research.”

  
“Hmm.” The gun was set down, for the moment at least, as Tord considered Tom carefully. “If you are from an alternate universe, why didn’t I notice the switch? You look identical to the Tom from this world.”

  
“I won’t tell you everything, not until you agree to help me.” Tom paused, remembering the gun in reach of Tord’s grasp. He probably needed to give him something. “I’m stuck in a time loop of sorts, but every time I die, I’m transported to a new universe as whoever my alternate self is there. I have their body but it’s my mind, if that makes sense.”

  
“What happens to your original self in each universe?” Tom shrugged. “And you say this was unintentional? It seems a rather large mistake to make.”

  
“Yes, it was meant to be a much smaller scale experiment. I don’t know what went wrong, but I do know the loop has to be broken to even begin to fix it.”

  
Tord nodded slowly, and Tom mentally congratulated himself on a job well done. “I am no expert in this field, but if you can give me some of the work used to start the loop, I’ll see what I can do.”

  
“Of course. I only have one of the major equations memorized, but I have more general knowledge that may be of use.” Tord stood, and Tom did as well, following him out of the room. “Thank you for being reasonable about all this.”

  
“It’s an intriguing situation, with gain to be had. Come on; we’ll go to my lab, and you can show me what you know.” Tord nodded at a sentry outside the outermost office, prompting him to lock and stand before the door. Security was very tight in this world’s Red Army it seemed; Tom had been surprised he had made it the few weeks he did without being caught. As it was he had no hope of knowing all the many passwords necessary to get into several higher clearance areas of the base in which he was supposed to be working, and he imagined it was this fact really that had exposed him. It didn’t seem this world’s Tom had been very close to Tord, just an employee. He had almost been grateful for this fact; it’s easier to fake general knowledge than any kind of relationship.

  
They were heading towards the science and development section of the base, an area Tom had not had cause to visit yet. Tord led him into a fairly large laboratory, that appeared untouched and unused bar the rare paper tacked before a desk. This was obviously Tord’s own workspace.

  
Tord pulled what appeared to be a clear whiteboard from its set place in the wall, tapping a button along the base of it and setting lights off along the sides. “You said you have an equation for this interdimensional travel, yes? Write it here, please.” He pulled a small pen from its hiding spot on the base, holding it out impatiently.

  
Tom nodded, accepting the small stylus. He began to write the equation across the board, as he did so saying, “The only reason I remember this one is because it was written across one of the walls in our lab, I saw it every day. My world’s Tord did more of the technical work like this.” He stepped back, checking the letters and numbers over carefully before stepping away. “There it is.”

  
Tord stared at it for a very long minute or so, before accepting the stylus back from Tom and doing some of his own work in hurried scribbles below. Tom couldn’t understand most of it, both from lack of skill in the field and the messy nature of the digits. Finally Tord set the stylus down, pressing something along the bottom of the board that appeared to wipe the whole thing. “Not to worry, I’ve saved the notes. That certainly is… interesting.”

  
“Do you think you can work with it?”

  
“Obviously. But why don’t you tell me more about what this travel has been like? Are there any specific triggers or correlations between travel?”

  
Tom hesitated a moment before responding. “Well, like I already said, when I die I travel forward. There aren’t any specific correlations between worlds yet, besides being able to find recognizable people such as yourself… Oh, when I enter a world, so far it’s always been on my birthday, when I turn 34; that’s also the day I left my original world.”

  
Tord nodded. “That makes sense, for a loop at least. Start and end times tend to stay consistent…” He hummed softly under his breath, thinking. “And how many worlds have you traveled through thus far?”

  
“This would make fifty.” Tom’s answer was immediate, rehearsed. “All different, some more recognizable than others, but fifty.”

  
Tord nodded, a piece of metal just below his neck catching the light distractingly. “Well then, I imagine we should get you home.”

  
“That would be great. As it is though…” Tom shook his head, frowning at the board. “I really don’t know how to reverse this. You’re usually a science nerd when I do meet your alternates, so I figured if I was to explain this all to anyone you’d make the most sense.”

  
“I can see your logic. Foolish, but clear.”

  
“Wh-“ Tom stopped, staring down at his arm; a needle, connected to a syringe, had just been stuck into his arm, through his uniform. He could feel the rush of whatever the liquid was meeting his system, immediately slowing his reaction time, even as he turned. The syringe was already in his hand, poised to attack the leader behind him, only to have his hand caught in a cybernetically aided grip. The glass broke, shattering inside his hand, but he could barely feel it.

  
Tord grinned at him, practically holding him aloft by his fist. “You are quite the interesting scenario, aren’t you? So blindly trusting though.”

  
Tom tried to retort, but all too quickly his body was shutting down. His goggles flickered once, twice, before winking out completely.

 

  
Tom woke up, dazed and confused, and an indeterminate amount of time having left him. He stared up at what appeared to be a blank ceiling, bright lights shining down at him. If not for his goggles that would probably hurt. He turned his head to the left, only getting more confused. His left arm was outstretched against a metal table, as the rest of his body was; but it had an extra restraint across the wrist, keeping the appendage perpendicular to his chest. His sleeve was rolled up, and a rather large needle with tubes running out of it had been jammed into a vein.

  
Switching his gaze to his opposite side, he could make out a large screen that was playing an echo of his own sight; this was made clear a moment later, when he could just see out of the corner of his visor thick cables running away from the goggles. He had been very thoroughly hooked up to these machines, but for what purpose was the real question.

  
Tord came into his line of sight now, a very serious expression on his face. He tapped some sort of command into the nearby screen, a soft beep responding immediately. He didn’t quite look at Tom, just going about whatever business he had. Tom struggled to make his mouth work, finding his body felt sluggish and unresponsive. “What…what are you doing?”

  
Tord didn’t even stop working, just continuing to touch buttons and dials. “You have information of use to me, and seeing as I can hardly trust your testimony, I’m going to take it from you.” He took a hold of the wires attached to his goggles now, and Tom winced as they tugged against his face. “This machine will collect your memories of the different worlds you’ve visited, so I can review them and assess the validity of your claims in a scientific view.”

  
“What are you talking about? I-I told you about it so you could help-“

  
“Oh, I doubt that’s possible, not with the technology I have. Besides, what on earth is in that for me? You’ve already taken one of my lieutenants, and by your own admission there is likely no getting him back...” Apparently satisfied, he dropped the cables, before finally leaning over Tom’s face and smiling. “This seems more than ample payment, no?”

  
Tom tried to reply, tried to shout something funny and scathing and angry, but Tord touched something else on the controls. His limbs seized up, he couldn’t feel his body let alone move it. His breathing sped up, hyperventilating, as his vision plunged into darkness.

 

_There was a distinct aroma of coffee in the air, mixed with a sterile odour. The difference in atmosphere was disorienting, but comforting at the same time; many long hours had been spent in here, the small room creating its own beautiful sense of home. He couldn’t move, but that was alright. He stood, and watched, and drank in the sight of the paper-strewn walls, equipment littering desks, and computers set on idle. This would be the most important day of his life. He blinked._

 

All Tom could see was the ceiling, bright lights above him. He could hear mumbling, and the clanking of small tools as weight lifted from his right wrist and his ankles. Trying to lift his head, he only managed to shift his shoulder blades against the hard metal table, no other muscles willing to cooperate. His head ached, particularly just behind his eyepiece. His left arm was completely numb, but he could just get the impression it was stretched out perpendicular to his side.

  
Suddenly a face appeared above him, and he was shocked to see Edd. The green-hoodied man was lacking that particular flair, instead cloaked in a black jacket with the collar pulled high around him. He scanned Tom’s face for a moment, perhaps looking for a reaction Tom was not able to give. “Try again Matt, I think it may be the IV.”

  
An affirmative noise sounded from across the lab, and Tom felt a sudden rush as something left his system. It washed across him in waves, and he found he was now given some limited mobility. He raised his head, shocked eyes staring at Edd. “What…” His voice was barely a whisper, his throat dry and raw.

  
Edd didn’t respond, since Tom hadn’t really asked a question yet. He offered a hand, helping Tom move into a sitting position. Matt had come over by now too, but was messing with some other cables attached to Tom’s goggles. Tom wasn’t sure why those were there. He wasn’t sure of a lot of things at the moment. Everything was a blur. Well not everything, he remembered Tord strapping him down clearly enough but… it was like the rest of his life had been blended together, he couldn’t think of any specifics leading him here.

  
His eyes shocked him suddenly. He jerked back, nearly falling over. “Sorry, sorry!” Matt’s shrill voice broke the silence, as something snapped away from the goggles.

  
“Jeez Matt, you’re gonna put him back in a coma.” Edd had grabbed Tom immediately, and although his tone was strangely gruff Tom had to say it was very welcome. He looked at Tom suddenly, taking in what must have been a very startled expression. “You okay?”

  
Tom was still just taking in his surroundings, trying to cement why he was here. His body ached gently, but he couldn’t tell why. “What’s going on?” Even to himself, his voice sounded lost.

  
“We don’t know, we were hoping you could tell us; we lost track of you after the battle with Tord years ago, we only stumbled upon you here by accident.”

  
Tom stared at Edd, trying to decide where to start. Where his memories were fuzzy, that didn’t sound familiar at all; in fact, he was pretty sure he had only been here for-

  
His memories came crashing back, for the most part; he remembered why Red had chained him up here, and what he must have done. No wonder his memories were so scattered, if that commie had been screwing around with them. A slight panic setting in, he pressed a tired hand against his head, trying to pull together his extremely scattered thoughts. The loop, yes, he remembers that, and the last world he was stuck in, but… that was it. No matter, he’d be able to find whatever memories Tord had stolen and jog his own memory, given time.

  
A sudden crash sounded from down the hall, and Tom realized that maybe time wasn’t a luxury he had. Matt and Edd exchanged a look, before Edd quickly helped Tom stand, keeping a stiff arm around him in case he stumbled. “Wait-“ Tom tried to say, he needed to get a look at the machines, he needed to know what had happened, but all too quickly they were out the door. Small cracks echoed down the corridor as they hurried on, from what Tom could see Matt had pulled a gun out to provide them cover fire, and Edd held one in his other hand. He was having a difficult time keeping up, both physically and mentally; everything was rushing by all too quickly, and no doubt he was still under the effects of whatever drugs had been pumped into his system.

  
Suddenly he was jerked to a halt. There seemed to be enemies both ahead and behind, they had been cornered. Dimly he heard someone shout, “Well, don’t just stand there, open fire!”

**Author's Note:**

> A post on Blue if you’d like a more conscice version of his basic loop: https://kzdipped.tumblr.com/post/169867816499/blue-alright-pretty-sure-i-havent-actually-posted  
> Thank you so much for reading, and please leave feedback!


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